Paper Flowers
by Just A Realistic Dreamer
Summary: She didn't like getting attached to things that didn't last... And he was one of them. -LaviLena Oneshot


_LaviLena oneshot, though I guess it can be seen as friendship_

_**Paper Flowers **_

Lenalee stretched, still sore from her mission, as she pushed her door open and sat on her bed. It was good to be home again.

She'd unpack, take a shower and make a quick stop at the cafeteria, and then take a well-deserved nap. And maybe meditate with Kanda, if he was there. She searched her uniform pocket and withdrew her hand, clutching a slightly crumpled paper flower. She smoothed it carefully, and remembered.

"_Hey! I heard you were back."_

_She hadn't expected him, and he had entered her room without knocking__, as usual. She had gotten used to it and had learned, like everyone else, to lock her door when she didn't want to be bothered… Ever since Lavi and his mentor had joined the Order around three years before, privacy had pretty much disappeared, as both Bookmen had the habit to appear randomly wherever they pleased._

_Before she could reply, he was sitting on her bed__, observing his surroundings. His only eye stopped on the small vase filled with flowers._

"_Why did Allen give you flowers?"_

_She looked up to stare at him, surprised._

"_How did you know?"_

"_Well, they aren't exactly hidden…"_

"_That they are from Allen, I mean."_

"_Oh. I just guessed; they obviously aren't from me, and I'm pretty sure Yuu'd rather die than give anyone, even you, flowers… Or anything, really. It seems a bit too ordinary to come from Komui or anyone from the Science Department, and I don't think any Finder would be crazy enough to show any interest in you while your brother's around… Or it could be a random stranger, but then again I doubt your sister-complexed brother would have let you keep them… So that leaves Allen… Unless you have a secret admirer I'm not aware of?"_

_She laughed softly. He was right, of course. When wasn't he?_

"_It was to thank me because I saved him from a girl who found him a bit too interesting… You know how he is, too much of a gentleman to hurt her feelings."_

_He chuckled._

"_I wish I could have seen his face."_

"_Oh, but now that I think about it… Kanda actually did give me flowers once."_

_Lavi's face paled and his green eye widened in disbelief._

"_You sure we're talking about the same guy?" _

_She rolled her eyes at him and blushed slightly._

"_Don't act so surprised… It was when we were just children, and I think he was a bit panicked because he had made me cry by snapping at me." _

_She smiled wistfully, remembering the years back when their friend hadn't been quite as bitter. Oh, he had never been very friendly, but years of fighting__ hadn't been good for his temper. _

"_So, do you like them?"_

"_Uh?" _

"_The flowers."_

_His tone was somewhat more serious than what she was used to. _

_Why did it matter__? _

"_It was really sweet of Allen to think of it."_

_H__is expression darkened slightly. _

"… _But, y__ou know, they'll wilt and die really soon… I don't like getting attached to things I know won't last*. We lose too many things in this war already. Like our home."_

_He patted her shoulder weakly, and she felt his unease, so she __changed the subject. After all, Lavi was probably the best informed about what was going on within HQ. From the newest Finder's name to the most recent of the Science Department's crazy inventions (though they were awfully calm since the arrival of the new personnel). _

"_What happened around here recently? My brother hasn't caused too much trouble?" _

"_No, not at all. His secretary controls him so well it's scary." _

_They chatted about the latest news for a while, about her mission, about their friends' latest antics… He remembered something he had to do for Bookman, got up to leave, and she asked him if they could eat breakfast together the next morning. Then his smile faltered and something like sorrow flashed briefly in his eye, though she couldn't begin to imagine why, and he replied he would probably be busy. _

_As he waved her goodbye, standing in her doorway, she suddenly had the overwhelming feeling she'd never see him again. She ignored it and smiled in return to his wide grin. They were at the headquarters (she didn't feel ready to call the castle Home yet), and he wasn't going anywhere soon… They'd see each other in a few hours, so why was she suddenly so worried? _

…The next morning there had been a basket full of carefully folded paper flowers before her door, and no other trace left of Lavi and his master's existences.

She twirled the flower between her fingers, reading the single word written in the Bookman apprentice's neat handwriting (though it was somewhat shaky in some parts) again and again. _Sorry_

She missed him so much… Life suddenly seemed duller without his stories and his jokes and his presence… She had always known it would happen… Her brother had told her so as soon as he had seen she was getting closer to Lavi. But she had wanted to believe he would stay. For her, for Kanda, for Allen… He hadn't. And she couldn't bring herself to be angry about it. Not when she could feel the dried tears that had once stained and smeared the ink on his last gift to her. Both hers and his.

A weary smile appeared on her lips as she deposed the flower on her nightstand where there had once been a bouquet and glanced at the still half full basket under her bed. She kept only one of them with her at all times, and replaced it when it was destroyed or too damaged. That way, they would last until they met again.

Was that what Lavi would had wanted her to do?

She didn't know, but she fully intended to ask him next time she saw him…Right after he got the punch he deserved for leaving her.

_The ending is sort of weird, but since I can't write angst to save my life, it's pretty hopeful… I hope it's not too OOC? _

_Should I write a sequel in Lavi's POV? _

_Please review? _

_*Ye__s, I did totally steal Sara's line (from Prison Break)… And the whole paper flower concept, in fact. But well, it fits Lavi and Lenalee too, right? _


End file.
